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mimalf

Black Spots on the Leaves

mimalf
10 years ago

I got black-spots problem with one of my plumies. This plumeria was attacked very badly by spider mites last month, was sprayed with Spectracide after trying Neem oil. Then, new leaves came out very healthy. Only a few weeks and the leaves started again to get yellow and fall. So I got the advice to spray it again with Spectracide, which I did. I also noticed a leaf that had 2 black spots, very small in the beginning, but in a few days they were all over that leaf. I removed and discarded that leaf. This morning, another leaf started to show small black spots. What could it be? Please, I really need some help with this.
Thank you in advance for any input.

Mima

Comments (10)

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Two days ago, another leaf got a few black spots.

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Trying to take a good pic of its underside, I broke it although believe me, I am very gentle handling them. So I stopped trying to get a good view of the underside.

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    This morning, I found 3 leaves fallen.

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    What I also found very weird this morning: one of the new growing leaves was knocked off! It wasn't like this last night for sure, I check on my plumies before going to bed!

    What could be wrong, please!!

  • jandey1
    10 years ago

    Mima, is this a newly rooted single tip plant? It should definitely be covered in healthy new leaves during this time of year.

    I was told that whenever there's leaf trouble, there's root trouble. The pot you have it in looks very large from that last photo. Maybe un-pot the plant and check on the root health first. It should be in a fast-draining soil and have lots of small white roots now. If there is wet soil and brown roots, you'll need to trim the dead ones off and re-pot into a drier mix.

    When the roots aren't healthy the plant is susceptible to infestation like from spider mites, which are worse earlier in the year than this. The black areas don't really look like insect damage anyway. I'm not sure what causes that.

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for responding, Jandey.

    This is a (supposedly) 5 years old plumeria. She has 3 tips, it even had an inflo and I had the honor to get an open bloom for a couple of days. I got it as a bday gift 3 months ago and she was in a 2 gallon pot. I just repotted her last week. When removing her from the old pot, I noticed she was root bound. Not enough room for hardly any soil at all. I had a 3 gallon ready for her and when I placed it in the pot to try it on, it was literally so small comparing with the roots that we decided to use the green pot you can see in the pic.

    Last month, while blooming, she got a bad spider mites infestation. So the only bloom that opened lasted only 2 days and fell, then she dropped all the other buds, then the inflo dried and fell off. I sprayed her with Neem oil solution but the infestation was too bad I guess, so then I sprayed her with Spectracide 3-in-1. It was fine after that, all new leaves and stuff, then about 2 weeks ago the leaves started again to get deformed, to yellow and fall. I got the advice to spray it again with Spectracide which I did, even though this time we couldn't see any spider mites. After spraying, she started losing the leaves again.

    What could I give her to help with getting more new roots? An egg at the bottom would help? Rooting hormone? Superthrive? She looks healthy, the branches are nice and firm, new leaves coming out beautifully, etc.

    Here's a pic when we repotted her last week.

    I appreciate any and all input! Thank you in advance!

    Mima

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    All others plumerias are fine, none of them got the spider mites (thankfully!) or the black spots, or the yellowing and falling of the leaves. So it's something wrong only with this one... :(

    Here's another one we just repotted and was rootbound.

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Could it be any other disease?

  • powderpuff
    10 years ago

    I think the pot looks too large. The roots look decent to me. I would take it easy with the Neem, Spectracide. It can burn the leaves if you spray in the sun or if temps are high.

    I prefer Bayer 3 in 1 and only spray after the sun sets and the leaves cool off and only if absolutely necessary. I may be the odd one out but for spider mites, I cut the leaves off. Are you growing inside? The only time I get mites, is when a cutting is inside rooting during the rainy season here. Outside, they never get them perhaps because of the rain and high humidity.

    I wouldn't worry about the new leaf on the tip that broke. It looks green. Are these outside? If so, probably a frog, bird, lizard, etc.

    Also, this is almost August. It's not unusual for some of the leaf growth to slow down and some of the bottom leaves to yellow and drop off. Also with the rain and humidity lots of FL Plumies get all sorts of weird spots on them. Some do, some don't, it never seems to affect the plant or blooms, it's just not pretty.

  • mimalf
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for your input powderpuff!

    I live in Socal, no humidity here. Well, we've had a humid day today, and we'll have a bit higher humidity than usual for a few more days. Otherwise, temps are in the high 90s, even triple digits, and veeeery dry. They are all outdoors, on my cement patio. The black spots are concerning me the most, they look so... sick (!), I have no idea what they could be. Indeed, after spraying her with Spectracide, she shed all the leaves and new ones look just fine and green. But then again, the others before were looking the same and then the black spots appeared out of the blue. None of my other plumies have these spots (knock on wood!), and I have all types and of different ages. :)

    I use Spectracide over Bayer 3-in-1 only because Bayer is so much more toxic.

    Again, thanks for your advice.

    Mima

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